Half-Life and Times

Thursday, December 21, 2006

SCOTS/Romwebers/Jule Brown

The show at the Cradle last Saturday was quite fun! Jule Brown opened (I'd never seen them before) and they were pretty good - I might not go see them as a headliner but I wouldn't run fleeing in terror if I heard they were on the bill with someone else (actually I'd look forward to it). Had a chance to catch up a little with Dex between shows since we hadn't seen each other in "29 years or something" according to him. He and Sarah put on a very nice set - I have to keep reminding myself that of course these guys have gotten better - they've been doing this for many, many years now! Dex is still rocking just as hard as he was at 17 and he gets more nuance out of that Silvertone than you can imagine.JennySlash had her first experience with Southern Culture on the Skids and she seemed to like them pretty well. I'm not sure what she made of Mary Huff pulling a clothes rack out of the dressing room and flinging her no-longer-wanted wardrobe into the audience and she did ask me, when the number of people on stage had swelled to 40 or so (including an apparently chemically-altered Mike Rank from Snatches of Pink) and the fried chicken started flying into the audience during 8 Piece Box, if it "Was always such a freak show" (which I answered with a resounding "YES!") but I think she enjoyed the show as much as I did.

Due to the Christmas crunch, episode 3 will probably not be uploaded until Boxing Day (next Tuesday for you Anglophobes) but I should be back on track with Episode 4 on Thursday, the 28th. I actually had what was to be the second installment in the can, but I bumped up the Christmas tunes and so I need to redo the talky bits for what will now be Ep3. I'm also still working on improving the dynamics (yes, David, I DO have a crappy mike!) so hopefully you heard some difference in the Christmas 'cast and will hear even more improvement going forward. Thanks for the feedback so far!

Worst. Dragon Movie. Ever.

Under no circumstances should you go see 'Eragon'. Trust me on this. Drop $9 into the nearest Salvation Army bucket instead and save yourself the pain. Hell, roll down your window and throw the money out into the road - it'll still be better-spent. No amount of alcohol consumption beforehand can overcome dialogue that makes George Lucas' writing sound like David Mamet, much less the wretched direction, worse editing and absolutely painful soundtrack. Okay, the dragon CGI is actually pretty good but that is truly the only thing about it that doesn't bite and bite hard. We're talking Mission to Mars bad, and that movie is our low-water mark for large-ish budget disasters. Friend gik is a fan of the books and was very displeased at the liberties and shortcuts they took in making the movie. I never read the books but I have a pulse and a braincell or two left and I was insulted.In no way should any of the above take anything away from the completely enjoyable time that JennySlash and I having dinner out with Bill, gik and David B. Good food, good beer and excellent company - thanks to David for putting it together! And the movie was bad enough to be enjoyable for us to shred on the way out.